New Democratic Party: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 04:49, 24 November 2009

The New Democratic Party (French: Nouveau Parti démocratique), commonly referred to as the NDP, is a social democratic political party in Canada. In the Canadian House of Commons, it holds a centre-left position in the Canadian political spectrum. The leader of the federal NDP is Jack Layton. The Provincial NDP parties in Manitoba and Nova Scotia currently form the government, and provincial parties have previously formed governments in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and in the Yukon.

Principles, policies and electoral achievement

The NDP grew from populist, agrarian and democratic socialist roots. While the party is secular and pluralistic, it has a longstanding relationship with the Christian left and the Social Gospel movement, particularly the United Church of Canada. However, the federal party has broadened to include concerns of the New Left, which advocates issues such as gay rights, peace, and environmental protection.

New Democrats today advocate, among other things

Gender equality and equal rights for gays, lesbians, and minorities
Improve environmental protection
National water safety standards
Increasing corporate taxes^[1]
Reducing poverty in Canada^[2]
Human rights protection
Expanded high-quality public transportation
Expanded public health care including dental and prescription drug coverage
Social assistance policies that reflects citizens' needs and assist their re-entry to the work force

Abolishing the Senate and ensuring more proportional representation^[3]
Workers' rights including raising the minimum wage to at least keep up with the cost of living
Aboriginal treaty, land, and constitutional rights
A foreign policy that emphasizes diplomacy, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid instead of offensive military action
Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
One wing is focused on ending the Canadian War on Drugs and legalizing recreational drugs^[4]

The NDP has never formed the federal government, but has at times wielded influence during federal minority governments, such as in the current 40th Parliament as well as the preceding 39th and (particularly) the 38th Parliaments of 2004-2008. The NDP also enjoyed considerable influence during the earlier minority Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, due to being a large enough group to decide outcomes when the others are split. Provincial New Democratic Parties, technically sections of the federal party, have governed in half the provinces and a territory. They currently govern the provinces of Manitoba and Nova Scotia, form the Official Opposition in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and have sitting members in every provincial legislature except those of Quebec (where there is no provincial NDP), New Brunswick (although the New Brunswick NDP had an elected member until 2006) and Prince Edward Island. They have previously formed governments in the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and in the Yukon Territory. The NDP also formed the official opposition in Alberta during the 1980s.

The New Democrats are also active municipally, and have been elected mayors, councillors, and school and service board members — Toronto mayor David Miller is a leading example, although he did not renew his membership in 2007. Similarly, current Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson began his political career as the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Fairview. Most municipal office-holders in Canada are usually elected as independents or with autonomous municipal parties.

History

Provincial and territorial wings

Campaign sign for a federal NDP candidate in the riding of Kelowna—Lake Country, British Columbia

Unlike most other Canadian parties, the NDP is integrated with its provincial and territorial parties. Membership lists are maintained by the provinces and territories. Being a member of a provincial or territorial section of the NDP includes automatic membership in the federal party. This precludes a person from supporting different parties at the federal and provincial levels. A key example of this was Buzz Hargrove's expulsion by the Ontario New Democratic Party after he backed Paul Martin in the 2006 election.

There are three exceptions. In Nunavut and in the Northwest Territories, whose territorial legislatures have no parties, the federal NDP is promoted by its riding associations, since each territory is composed of only one federal riding.

In Quebec, the Quebec New Democratic Party and the federal NDP agreed in 1989 to sever their structural ties after the Quebec party adopted the sovereigntist platform. Since then, the federal NDP is not integrated with a provincial party in that province; instead, it has a section, the Nouveau Parti démocratique-Section Québec/New Democratic Party Quebec Section,^[5] whose activities in the province are limited to the federal level, whereas on the provincial level its members are individually free to support or adhere to any party.

**Provincial and territorial parties, current seats, and leaders**
Party	Seats/Total	Leader
Alberta New Democratic Party	2/83	Brian Mason, MLA
British Columbia New Democratic Party	35/85	Carole James, MLA, Leader of the Opposition
New Democratic Party of Manitoba	36/57	Hon. Greg Selinger, MLA, Premier of Manitoba
New Brunswick New Democratic Party	0/55	Roger Duguay
New Democratic Party of Newfoundland and Labrador	1/48	Lorraine Michael, MHA
Nova Scotia New Democratic Party	32/52	Hon. Darrell Dexter, MLA, Premier of Nova Scotia
Ontario New Democratic Party	10/107	Andrea Horwath, MPP
Prince Edward Island New Democratic Party (P.E.I.)	0/27	James Rodd^[6]
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party	20/58	Dwain Lingenfelter, MLA, Leader of the Opposition
Yukon New Democratic Party	2/18	Elizabeth Hanson

(Those current NDP government are in bold)

From 1963 to 1994, there was a New Democratic Party of Quebec.

**Chart of the best showings for provincial parties, and the election that provided the results**
Province/Territory	Seats - Status	Election years and party leaders at the time
Alberta	16 - Official Opposition	1986, Ray Martin; 1989, Ray Martin
British Columbia	51 - Government	1991, Michael Harcourt
Manitoba	36 - Government	2007, Gary Doer
New Brunswick	2	New Brunswick 1984 by-election, George Little
Newfoundland and Labrador	2	1987 by election Peter Fenwick ; 1999, 2003, Jack Harris
Nova Scotia	31 - Government	2009, Darrell Dexter
Ontario	74 - Government	1990, Bob Rae
Prince Edward Island	1	1996, Herb Dickieson
Quebec	1	1944, (CCF, David Côté)
Saskatchewan	55 - Government	1991, Roy Romanow
Yukon	11 - Government	1996, Piers McDonald

The most successful provincial section of the party has been the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, which first came to power in 1944 as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation under Tommy Douglas and has won most of the province's elections since then. In Canada, Tommy Douglas is often cited as the Father of Medicare since, as Saskatchewan Premier, he introduced Canada's first publicly funded, universal healthcare system there. Despite the continued success of the Saskatchewan branch of the party, the NDP was shut out of Saskatchewan in the 2004 federal election for the first time since the 1965 election. This is a trend that continued in the 2006 federal election, and yet again in the 2008 federal election. The New Democratic Party has also formed government in Manitoba, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and in Yukon.

Current members of Parliament

The election of October 14, 2008, gave the NDP 37 seats; Twelve of its MPs are women; after the general election this represented 32% of its seats (down from 41% in 2006 where it had the highest proportion of women that has ever existed in a Canadian parliamentary caucus with official party status.) For a list of NDP MPs and their critic portfolios, see New Democratic Party Shadow Cabinet.

Senator Lillian Dyck initially chose to associate herself with the NDP upon her appointment to the Senate in 2005. However the party did not allow her to be part of the parliamentary caucus, as the NDP favours the abolition of the Canadian Senate. Dyck sat in the Senate as an Independent New Democrat from March 24, 2005 until January 15, 2009, when she joined the Liberal Party caucus.

40th Parliament - Currently sitting members

Malcolm Allen, Welland (ON)
Charlie Angus, Timmins—James Bay (ON)
Niki Ashton, Churchill (MB)
Alex Atamanenko, British Columbia Southern Interior (BC)
Dennis Bevington, Western Arctic (NT)
Chris Charlton, Hamilton Mountain (ON)
Olivia Chow, Trinity—Spadina (ON)
David Christopherson, Hamilton Centre (ON)
Joe Comartin, Windsor—Tecumseh (ON)
Jean Crowder, Nanaimo—Cowichan (BC)
Nathan Cullen, Skeena—Bulkley Valley (BC)
Don Davies, Vancouver Kingsway (BC)
Libby Davies, Vancouver East (BC)
Paul Dewar, Ottawa Centre (ON)
Fin Donnelly, New Westminster—Coquitlam (BC)
Linda Duncan, Edmonton—Strathcona (AB)
Yvon Godin, Acadie—Bathurst (NB)
Claude Gravelle, Nickel Belt (ON)
Jack Harris, St. John's East (NL)
Carol Hughes, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing (ON)
Bruce Hyer, Thunder Bay—Superior North (ON)
Peter Julian, Burnaby—New Westminster (BC)
Jack Layton, Toronto—Danforth (ON)
Megan Leslie, Halifax (NS)
Jim Maloway, Elmwood—Transcona (MB)
Wayne Marston, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek (ON)
Pat Martin, Winnipeg Centre (MB)
Tony Martin, Sault Ste. Marie (ON)
Brian Masse, Windsor West (ON)
Irene Mathyssen, London—Fanshawe (ON)
Thomas Mulcair, Outremont (QC)
John Rafferty, Thunder Bay—Rainy River (ON)
Denise Savoie, Victoria (BC)
Bill Siksay, Burnaby—Douglas (BC)
Peter Stoffer, Sackville—Eastern Shore (NS)
Glenn Thibeault, Sudbury (ON)
Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Winnipeg North (MB)

Federal leaders

#	Picture	Leader	From	To	Birth	Death	Ridings while leader
1		Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas	August 3, 1961	April 23, 1971	October 20, 1904	February 24, 1986	Burnaby—Coquitlam, Nanaimo—Cowichan—The Islands, BC
2		David Lewis	April 24 1971	July 6, 1975	June 23, 1909	May 23, 1981	York South, ON
3		John Edward "Ed" Broadbent	July 7 1975	December 4, 1989	March 21, 1936	-	Oshawa—Whitby, Oshawa, ON
4	File:Audrey McLaughlin.jpg	Audrey Marlene McLaughlin	December 5 1989	October 13, 1995	November 7, 1936	-	Yukon, YK
5		Alexa Ann McDonough	October 14 1995	January 24, 2003	August 11, 1944	-	Halifax, NS
6	File:LaytonPortrait.jpg	John Gilbert "Jack" Layton	January 25 2003	-	July 18, 1950	-	Toronto—Danforth, ON

Federal election results 1962–2008

Highest values are bolded

Election	Leader	# of candidates	# of seats won	# of total votes	% of popular vote
1962	Tommy Douglas	217	19	1,044,754	13.57%
1963	Tommy Douglas	232	17	1,044,701	13.24%
1965	Tommy Douglas	255	21	1,381,658	17.91%
1968	Tommy Douglas	263	22	1,378,263	16.96%
1972	David Lewis	252	31	1,725,719	17.83%
1974	David Lewis	262	16	1,467,748	15.44%
1979	Ed Broadbent	282	26	2,048,988	17.88%
1980	Ed Broadbent	280	32	2,150,368	19.67%
1984	Ed Broadbent	282	30	2,359,915	18.81%
1988	Ed Broadbent	295	43	2,685,263	20.38%
1993	Audrey McLaughlin	294	9	933,688	6.88%
1997	Alexa McDonough	301	21	1,434,509	11.05%
2000	Alexa McDonough	298	13	1,093,748	8.51%
2004	Jack Layton	308	19	2,116,536	15.68%
2006	Jack Layton	308	29	2,589,597	17.48%
2008	Jack Layton	308	37	2,517,075	18.13%

References

^ NDP platform pledges billions for child care, Globe and Mail, 28 September 2008
^ NDP | Jack Layton's speech on Canada's role in the world
^ Layton calls for referendum on abolishing Senate, CTV.ca, 5 November 2007
^
[http://www.endprohibition.ca/index.php
- Cut all funding to the Canadian Forces
eNDProhibition - NDP Against the Drug War]
^ http://www.npd.qc.ca
^ http://www.ndppei.ca/site/Leader.php

External links

Template:NDP Leaders

[1] NDP platform pledges billions for child care, Globe and Mail, 28 September 2008

[2] NDP | Jack Layton's speech on Canada's role in the world

[3] Layton calls for referendum on abolishing Senate, CTV.ca, 5 November 2007

[4] [http://www.endprohibition.ca/index.php
Cut all funding to the Canadian Forces
eNDProhibition - NDP Against the Drug War]

[5] Cut all funding to the Canadian Forces

[5] ttp://www.npd.qc.ca

[6] ttp://www.ndppei.ca/site/Leader.php

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | foundation    = June 17, 1961 <br>Incorporated [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation|CCF]] and [[Canadian Labour Congress|CLC]]
 | headquarters  = 300 - 279 [[Laurier Avenue]] W<br>[[Ottawa, Ontario|Ottawa]], [[Ontario]]<br> K1P 5J9
-| ideology      = Historical:<br/>[[Democratic Socialism]]<br/>[[Christian Left]]<br/>[[Populism]]<br/>[[Old Left]]<br/>Modern:<br/>[[Progressivism]]<br/>[[Social democracy]]<br/>[[New Left]]<br/>[[Reformism]]
+| ideology      = Historical:<br/>[[Democratic Socialism]]<br/>[[Christian Left]]<br/>[[Agrarianism]]<br/>[[Populism]]<br/>[[Old Left]]<br/>Modern:<br/>[[Progressivism]]<br/>[[Social democracy]]<br/>[[New Left]]<br/>[[Reformism]]
 | fiscalpolicy  = '''[[Economic Progressivism]]'''
 | socialpolicy  = '''[[Social Progressivism]]'''

v t e Federal political parties and parliamentary groups in Canada
House of Commons	Liberal (156) Conservative (118) Bloc Québécois (32) New Democratic (24) Green (2) Independent (3) Vacant (3)
Senate	Independent Senators Group (40) Canadian Senators Group (17) Conservative (15) Progressive Senate Group (11) Non-affiliated (8) Vacant (11)
Other registered	Animal Protection Centrist Christian Heritage Communist Free Libertarian Marijuana Marxist–Leninist Maverick People's Rhinoceros
Notable historical parties and groups	Anti-Confederate Bloc populaire Canadian Alliance Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth Democratic Representative Caucus Ginger Group Labour Labor-Progressive New Democracy Progressive Conservative Progressive/United Farmers Québec debout Ralliement créditiste Reconstruction Reform Senate Liberal Caucus Social Credit Strength in Democracy Unionist Unity
Italics indicate a parliamentary group that acts as a party in the legislature, but does not contest elections Portal:Canada List of political parties Politics of Canada